


Lean On Me

by Annide



Category: House M.D.
Genre: M/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 19:05:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6483556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annide/pseuds/Annide
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short evolution of House and Wilson's relationship, from their first meeting to their last.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lean On Me

 

**Past**

                House was forced to go to yet another boring medical conference and he wasn’t happy about it. He never got anything from those things. At least, New Orleans was renowned to be a city of party, so maybe he’d get to enjoy his time there a little. And this conference ended up in fact a lot less boring than any other one.

                House always noticed things most people didn’t. For example, that woman who was clearly hungover. She’d tried to hide it behind make up and drank a lot of coffee to compensate, but House could still see it in the way her eyes blinked a little too slowly and the way she avoided loud and bright rooms. Or that man who carried an unopened envelope, most likely containing divorce papers. You could see the tan line his ring had left on his finger. That intrigued House. The man was fairly young, he couldn’t have graduated med school that long ago, and yet, he had already gotten married and reached the point of divorce. He decided to follow the man around, see what would happen. If nothing, the man at least offered a nice view. He looked sad, but still very handsome.

                That night, House followed him to a bar. There was this annoying man who kept playing the same song over and over again on the jukebox, but other than that, the ambiance was pretty good. And House liked the décor too, the antique mirror was a nice touch. It was a good evening, until the man with the divorce papers started an argument with the one who kept putting on the same song, got angry, threw a bottle in the mirror and got arrested. At that moment, the night became great.

                House bailed the man out of jail and learned he was called James Wilson. House would never admit why he helped him, or why he even hired an attorney to get him out of trouble. He would say he was bored and Wilson was interesting. Truth was House had been turned on by Wilson’s fit of anger. Nothing was more exciting than a calm and composed man losing it.

                They spent the rest of the weekend together, mostly drinking. Their hands touched several times and House couldn’t put words on how it made him feel. And he didn’t want to open himself up to another person, didn’t want to make himself vulnerable, such things never ended well.

 

**Present**

 

                House and Wilson were both working at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital now. House had gone there due to his history with the Dean of Medicine, and his difficulty getting hired anywhere else because of his questionable ethics and lack of respect for authority. As soon as there was an opening in the Oncology department, he recommended Wilson, excited at the idea of seeing his friend every day. They both became Heads of their departments: House in Diagnostics, Wilson in Oncology. They even had offices next to each other, sharing a balcony. They became very close friends. They even lived together at different points. Wilson with House after he got divorced, House with Wilson after he got out of the psychiatric hospital.

                Wilson was there for House when the muscle in his leg died. He was there to support him when Stacy decided on a surgery that most likely saved his life, but left House in pain for the rest of his life. And when the relationship with Stacy ended, mostly due to House's resentment, Wilson was the one he leaned on.

                At times, House thought there might be more to their relationship than simple friendship. He never said anything, by fear of losing the only friend he had. But Wilson was dying now. There was nothing anyone could do anymore. They had tried to save him, without success. After that, House faked his death to avoid jail and be able to spend Wilson's last few months with him. There was nothing to lose.

                They were having lunch in New Orleans. Wilson wanted to revisit the area before his death, claiming he didn't take the time to really appreciate it the first time. Because they'd met and spent most of their time drinking in bars. He really wanted to look around this time. And it did look quite nice. Their history there, and Wilson feeling particularly good that day, made for the perfect opportunity for House to admit he was in love with him.

                Wilson wasn't that surprised. Who would give up everything to spend only a few months with a dying friend? There was no way you did such a thing if you didn't have feelings for the other person. And of course, he felt the same. He had for years. But he'd always been too afraid to say anything. Afraid that his friend wouldn't feel the same or, even worse, that he did feel it, but that a relationship would never work because House was, after all, House.

                They shared their first kiss on the empty street, on their way back to their hotel room. It felt like it had always been meant to be and, that night, Wilson fell asleep crying about all the time they'd lost before finally getting there.

 

**Future**

 

                August was nearing its end and the weather was comfortable in Montreal. House and Wilson were walking in the middle of a street that had been closed to cars for the summer. It was a good feeling, walking around, holding hands, a nice breeze brushing their faces. They were going pretty slowly, they both needed a cane now.

                "You know, this city is where I got my undergraduate degree."

                "I know. Beautiful place."

                "And did you know same-sex marriage is a thing here?"

                "What that you trying to ask me something? Because that is not a way to ask a guy to marry you."

                "I.. No, yes, maybe. I am dying, House!"

                "Nevertheless, a good way to propose would be if I took out this harmonica I have in my pocket for no reason and started playing it while singing to you why you're the man for me."

                "That would be incredibly cheesy and not at all you."

                "It would be exactly the kind of thing you'd love though. But, too late, you ruined it."

                The past few months hadn't been without problems. They'd interrupted their trip several times when House saw some kind of medical mystery in a random passerby or when Wilson had felt so bad they needed to stop by an ER. Getting inside Canada hadn't been easy either, House was supposedly dead so he didn't have a valid passport anymore, but they figured it out.

                "We should do it soon. I'm getting worse faster now."

                House saw it too. He tried to keep a strong face for Wilson, but it was clear they didn't have that much time left. They kept as busy as possible, because neither of them could stand to think of what would happen when Wilson died and House was left alone.

                Even in the short two weeks it took to get everything ready, Wilson's state had degraded. He couldn't stand on his own anymore and House had to hold him up the whole ceremony. They kissed as if nothing else existed anymore and, for a moment, forgot all the pain they were in, both physically and emotionally. It was a beautiful, magical moment. House even insisted to carry Wilson inside their room so they could pretend the wheelchair didn't exist, for a few more hours at least.

                Their first, and only, month as a married couple was a strange mix of love and happiness, sadness and anger, not at each other, but at the world. House didn't understand how life could be so unfair as to kill the sweet, kind, selfless person that was James Wilson when he was standing right there, so deserving of such a fate.

                They spent the last day in each other's arms. House had suggested going back home before it was too late, but Wilson wanted to be somewhere their marriage meant something legally. He knew it made no sense, especially since the Gregory House he married wasn't the same Gregory House who'd died a few months earlier, on paper at least. But that's what he wanted and House didn't argue. Wilson was too weak for fighting. They simply lay there on the bed, crying and kissing, until Wilson felt asleep, never to wake up again.


End file.
